CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

The New York Times reports:

The ladies of the court, wearing long dresses and hats with trailing veils, moved in a stately minuet across the stage of the Coliseum Theater in London on Wednesday night, in the English National Ballet’s production of “The Sleeping Beauty.” They tapped their canes on the floor as the Prince looked on, circling elegantly with uniform poise and charm.

Nothing looked particularly unusual. But it was. One of those court ladies was a man: Chase Johnsey.

For the first time in modern ballet history, a male dancer is performing as part of the female ensemble at an international ballet company, signaling an important moment in an art form that often celebrates a particular ideal of femininity. Or, as the great choreographer George Balanchine said, “ballet is woman.”

The clip below is from last year.

Chase Johnsey: “I had completely the wrong idea about what makes a ballerina beautiful and graceful. It is actually strength, hidden within softness and grace, and I have had to figure out in my genetically male composition, how to find that.” https://t.co/gTuAjFQq2x pic.twitter.com/kYpadmh7Rr

— New York Times Arts (@nytimesarts) June 8, 2018